Sharing my favorite kitchen remodel ideas that are not budget breakers.
Growing up my sister and I turned our Barbie Dream House into a ranch floor plan. We used Lincoln Logs to landscape the “yard” and driveway.
And we may have borrowed the Nativity Scene for legit barnyard animals.
It’s no surprise I tackled our kitchen remodel with the same concept of reimagining walls and a corner pantry.
KITCHEN REMODEL IDEAS
For a couple that can argue over how to load the dishwasher- we agreed on most remodel projects. You know, the big stuff.
We did this DIY a few years earlier when we removed 1/2 a wall between the kitchen and dining room. If you are not ready to knock out walls- try this idea to open up the kitchen.
Here are our favorite kitchen remodel ideas and decisions we made.
FAVORITE KITCHEN REMODEL IDEAS
1. Kitchen Island Design
My husband came up with this idea and I loved it. He wanted the kitchen island to look like a free-standing piece of furniture.
2. Move the cooktop out of the island
This was on my really, really want list. I wanted uninterrupted real estate on my kitchen island. To do this, we moved the stove to the kitchen’s perimeter, an exterior wall, to access the gas line.
We were surprised that this move from the island to the wall was not as expensive as anticipated.
Tip: Explore your options. My husband was adamant that an oven moved to the exterior wall was going to be thousands of additional dollars with the gas line.
It costs us around $350.00 to move/extend the gas line.
3. Trash and Recycle Bins
In hindsight, we could have added bins without a remodel, but I love the recycle and trash bins together.
4. Pull out cabinet bin for the dog food
(just like the trash/recycle bins)
Okay, this dog food bin is the most talked about feature in our kitchen. My friends love the idea too.
We placed this on one end of the kitchen island so it is two steps away from Chloe and Elliott’s dog bowls.
Of all the decisions we made to our kitchen remodeling ideas this is a top conversation with friends.
5. POT FILLER
This stepped up our kitchen without that much money. I think the Kohler pot filler faucet cost more than the plumber.
My boys and husband use this faucet to get his water.
6. Removed the corner pantry and created a beverage bar
This decision was fairly last minute. We had a corner pantry that had so much wasted space.
The question was could we fit the contents of the pantry (small appliances, serving trays, etc) into other cabinets?
Here is the corner pantry before (and the half wall and my old blog before I did this):
Where there is a will there is a way
7. Dedicated broom storage
Where to put the broom? When we lost our corner pantry we lost our broom storage.
At one point my husband suggested we store it under the couch.
Our cabinet install guy loved this idea too.
There was no room between the refrigerator and the wall because of the baseboards.
But there was room to the right of the pull-out shelves of the new vertical pantry.
8. Ordered additional pull-out shelves for the pantry.
If you like to arrange cabinets you will want to order additional shelves. I could account for height and adjust the shelves in the future. Those dang cereal boxes and Quaker Oats old-fashioned oats.
9. Created additional storage under the island.
Our island is larger than the original. It includes a quartz slab with a microwave on one side, two deep drawers on another side, the dog food cabinet and this hidden cabinet underneath the island.
It’s under these two barstools and are surprisingly comfortable).
I store out-of-season baking stuff like my favorite sugar cookie supplies.
The depth of the cabinet shelves is only 8″ but I can out of season mugs and plates under there too. Love it!
My husband wanted to create as much storage as possible and still maintain seating for 3-4 people. To keep the recommended leg room under the island we had enough space for narrow shelves behind two cabinet fronts.
It essentially is hiding in plain sight because the bar stools sit in front of the cabinets.
10. Appliance Garage
I rotate small appliances through this cabinet based on demand. My kitchen designer (Teresa from here) saw me post my Kitchenaid in the appliance cabinet and she was like, “get it on the counter!”
#firstworldprobs
Finally, if you are not ready for a kitchen remodel start with this idea to update the kitchen. It’s how I knew I wanted a grey island!
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